Talk, and hope no one's listening

Far better on the stage where you get to butt in with a silly joke, which you'll regret on the way h

Every once in a while, for fun — and because I find it difficult to say no — I find myself being manipulated into compèring an evening, or moderating a discussion, without having a clue what it’s about. Like the time I was supposed to keep the venerable Amartya Sen and a few other worthies on the straight and narrow of welfare economics without having a clue about what it meant. On several occasions, I’ve managed to couch my ignorance with such clichés as, “Now, that’s really interesting, what’s your take on it?” before passing the mike to a panellist